Govinda Gallery

Leo’s Tavern 50th anniversary banner. Photograph by Carlotta Hester.

I was just looking at the cover of the first issue of Rolling Stone magazine, from November 1967. Donovan was the inaugural interview and is referred to on the cover as the “manchild of magic.”

Artist Carlotta Hester outside Leo’s Tavern. Photograph by Chris Murray.

Donovan brought his “magic” to County Donegal in Ireland a couple of weeks ago to Leo’s Tavern, one of the great music pubs in all of Ireland. Donovan was performing as a celebration of Leo’s Tavern’s 50th anniversary. It was also the last gig of Donovan’s three years of touring. The “magic” was in the air!

The view outside Donovan’s hotel. Photograph by Carlotta Hester.

Donovan, Irish artist Marilyn Gaffney, Donovan’s wife and muse Linda Lawrence, and Govinda Gallery Director Chris Murray. The Farnham Estate Hotel and Spa. Photograph by Carlotta Hester.

Earlier this week, Bruce Springsteen joined Tangiers Blues Band to celebrate the reopening of Asbury Lanes in Asbury Park, NJ. What an incredible gig it was!! The rebirth of the bowling alley/music venue is thanks to the renovations by Jay Sugarman of i-Star, which has also launched the adjacent Asbury Hotel. After Tangiers Blues Band and Bruce’s set, Portugal. The Man put on an extraordinary show, and our friend Danny Clinch from Tangiers Blues Band joined them on harmonica for their song ‘Holy Roller.’  What a night, as reported by legendary Govinda Girl Stormy Stokes, who was in attendance.

Photographer and Tangiers Blues Band member Danny Clinch on harmonica with guitarist Chris Scianni and Bruce Springsteen. Photograph by Chris Capaci.

Danny Clinch is one of my favorite photographers, and it was my great pleasure to organize and present Danny’s first ever exhibition, at Govinda Gallery in the fall of 2001. I was excited that my friend David Friend from Vanity Fair wrote a wonderful piece about Danny and his exhibition at Govinda in the September issue of Vanity Fair that year. Here is the photo of Bruce Springsteen taken by Danny that ran with the Vanity Fair story.

Bruce Springsteen, © Danny Clinch.

Danny Clinch’s photographs are available through Govinda Gallery.

DJ Fontana, Elvis’ original drummer, passed away on Wednesday. DJ was integral to Elvis’ magical sound in 1956. Alfred Wertheimer took the greatest photographs ever of Elvis Presley in 1956. Here is a great one of DJ playing drums at the earth shaking recording session on July 2, 1956 at RCA Studios in New York, where they recorded that day Hound Dog, Don’t Be Cruel, and Any Way You Want Me. That was Elvis’ best band with DJ, Scotty Moore, and Bill Black. God Bless DJ Fontana.

July 2, 1956, RCA Studios, New York City. Photograph by Alfred Wertheimer.

Bruce Springsteen and David Sancious, Central Park, 1973. © The Estate of David Gahr.

Backstreets magazine just published a terrific story and interview on the making of Bruce Springsteen: From Asbury Park, to Born to Run, to Born in the USA (Rizzoli). It is an account of how Bruce Springsteen and photographer David Gahr came together and their enduring association, which led to the publication of this highly regarded book. Smithsonian.com writes of the book’s “rarely seen photographs that capture the exhilarating power of the Boss.”

Backstreets‘ Chris Phillips writes, “A new book from Rizzoli, Bruce Springsteen: From Asbury Park, to Born to Run, to Born in the USA, finally reveals the breadth of Gahr’s work with Springsteen, in session after session documenting his rise to superstardom. Govinda Gallery founder Chris Murray was tapped by the Estate of David Gahr to put the book together, making selections from thousands of black and white negatives and color slides for a definitive collection.”

You can read the full Backstreets magazine story and interview here.

Tom Petty, Bonnaroo, 2009. Photograph by Danny Clinch.

Just a couple of weeks ago I attended the opening of The Soundry in Columbia, Maryland, the newest fine music venue in the Washington area.  It was a remarkable evening.  Tom Meyer, President of the Clyde’s group, commissioned Newmyer Flyer Productions to present a concert to open The Soundry,  exclusively featuring songs by the ten musical artists in the amazing photographs that make up the decor of The Soundry.  The extraordinary concert was called Portraits In Sound, and is the first concert to honor photographers along with the great musical artists they documented.

Newmyer had over a dozen musicians on stage covering songs by Leon Russell, Greg Allman, Prince, Fats Domino, Amy Winehouse, Tom Petty, Merle Haggard, David Bowie, BB King and Chuck Berry, depicted in photos by legendary photographers Baron Wolman, Mark Seliger, Danny Clinch, Claude Gassian, Jill Furmanovsky, and Barrie Wentzell.  It was a night to remember.  Here are some of the photographs. 

Gregg Allman, New York City, 2010. Photograph by Danny Clinch.

Amy Winehouse, London, 2006. Photograph by Jill Furmanovsky.

Merle Haggard, Lake Shasta, CA, 1994. Photograph by Mark Seliger.

Fats Domino, Las Vegas, 1968. Photograph by Baron Wolman.

BB King, San Francisco, 1968. Photograph by Baron Wolman.

Leon Russell, 1970. Photograph by Barrie Wentzell.

Photographs by these artists are available through Govinda Gallery.

I was at the free Rolling Stones concert in Havana in March, 2016. It was a blast!

Genesis Publications has just published a limited edition, deluxe autographed book of the Stones set lists that Stones guitarist Ronnie Wood illustrates. I love his painted set list from the Cuba concert I attended, and here it is.

We love Woody here at Govinda Gallery. He is a terrific visual artist. It was my great pleasure to present his first ever exhibition in the United States, Ron Wood: Decades, Dec. 5th, 1987 – Jan. 2nd, 1988. It was also a launch for his first book, Ron Wood: The Works. Woody came to Govinda Gallery with his trusted sidekick, Chuch Magee, for two days, for the opening night of the exhibition and a book signing the next day. It was wild, exhilarating, and great fun. The exhibition was a huge success and appreciated by everyone. Woody was in great form and spent a lot of time in The Back Room at Govinda Gallery.

Ronnie Wood with Govinda Gallery director Chris Murray at the opening of his first exhibition in the United States. © Peter Crook/Govinda Gallery Archive.

We also love Genesis Publications, and Govinda Gallery was the exclusive U.S. distributor for twenty years for Genesis. Brian Roylance, the founder of Genesis Publications, was a dear friend, as are his daughter, Catherine, and his son, Nick, who now run the company. You can order Woody’s book, The Rolling Stones Set Lists, directly from Genesis Publications.

Ronnie Wood, Eric Clapton, 1988.

Ronnie Wood’s work is available through Govinda Gallery.

I saw a cover story from the January 21st New York Times Book Review titled, “Philip Roth is Still Here.” Now Philip Roth is not here, having just passed away, but his writing certainly is still here. At the end of his story on Roth, Charles McGrath interviews him and asks, “What have you been reading lately?” After mentioning a number of authors, Roth says, “How in the midst of all this I came to read and enjoy Bruce Springsteen’s autobiography, Born to Run, I can’t explain other than to say that part of the pleasure of now having so much time at my disposal to read whatever comes my way invites unpremeditated surprises.” I was pleased to see that such an esteemed author had enjoyed Springsteen’s autobiography.

Billboard magazine recently published a terrific story by Steven J. Horowitz about David Gahr’s photographs of Bruce Springsteen and the new book of those photos from Rizzoli. It was a great pleasure for me to edit that book. Here is that story.

Bob Dylan and George Harrison, The Concert for Bangladesh, 1971. Photograph by Barry Feinstein.

George Harrison, Stuart Sutcliffe and John Lennon, Hamburg, 1961. Photograph by Astrid Kirchherr.

Yesterday was Astrid Kirchherr’s birthday. Astrid took some of the finest early photographs of the Beatles. Her exhibitions at Govinda Gallery were legendary.  She was also a featured photographer in the inaugural exhibition at The Experience Music Project (now known as the Museum of Pop Culture) in Seattle, Artist to Icon, which was organized by Govinda Gallery. Her photographs are currently on exhibit in La Spezia, Italy at Fondazione Carispezia through June 17, 2018.

Outside Fondazione Carispezia in La Spezia, Italy. Photograph by Kai-Uwe Franz.

Self-portrait, Hamburg, 1960. Photograph by Astrid Kirchherr.

Astrid Kirchherr’s photographs are available through Govinda Gallery.

This Saturday, May 19th, The History Book Festival in Lewes, Delaware, is celebrating the publication of Bruce Springsteen: From Asbury Park, to Born to Run, to Born in the USA (Rizzoli), featuring the photographs of David Gahr. They have some good programming planned.

Bruce Springsteen and David Gahr, New Jersey, 1979.